From Dusk to Dawn
by Zombie Spade
Summary: Her world was twisted and shattered beyond comprehension the second his blood red eyes met hers. "Shadow...you're dead." He smirked. "You're right. I was. I am." AU.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'm back! Miss me yet? Anyway, I guess I'll get down to business. This is actually a re-edit of a_ very_ old fic I wrote when I was younger. Not a lot of bad words, like one, but I guess I'll put a warning up for you lighthearted ones. Don't sue me SEGA. I bought your latest game, dammit.**

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><p>The night was as it always was, high up in the mountains. Cold. Dead. Seemingly lifeless, sans the nocturnal animals that liked to roam when the moon had risen to its highest point. There was a louder noise though, like crunching leaves, as someone rushed through the woods. He didn't dare look back, to confirm his suspicions that his pursuer was closer than it felt like.<p>

The man was elderly, and quite large, so it was only natural he would soon fall to the freezing forest floor. He shuddered constantly, his aged blue eyes looking in every possible direction for his pursuer.

"What more do you want?" he cried into the night, desperation seeping into his voice. "I've told you everything I know already!"

A sharp, bitter chuckle was his only response, and even that could not tell him where the person was. The sound seemed to come from every direction, which didn't help at all.

"I've always found you to be most amusing, doctor." a dark voice, a male's, mused before shedding its playful edge. "But I'm afraid that now is not the time for jokes. Tell me what I want to know, Eggman. Tell me and _maybe_ I'll let you breathe a little longer."

"Please, have mercy! I've told you all I know, I swear!" The doctor pleaded, tears clouding his vision. Try as he might, he could not shake the shadow of death that had covered him the second the man found him.

"You lie," the male growled, suddenly grasping Eggman by the throat and shoving him against a tree. Eggman clawed at the arm that held him up but the man's grip was unrelenting.

"You know more than you're letting on, doctor, because I know that senile mind of yours knows more. A _lot_ more. The Ark was destroyed, along with all of its information on the Black Arms and their secrets. You know all about the Black Arms, so tell me!"

In one last act of defiance, Eggman's wise eyes hardened and he spat out one word that made the man's irritation boil over. "Never."

A hollow crack echoed throughout the forest, startling midnight creatures searching for food. They scattered at the scent of death in the air, assuming that they'd be next on the unknown predator's menu.

The man dropped Eggman's limp body to the ground and sighed, rubbing his temples before glaring icily at the old man's corpse. "Fuckin' waste of time."

And he was gone.

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><p><strong>Would you read this? Or rather,<em> continue<em> to read this? Feedback is loved and cherished. :3 **

**And yes, this most likely will be a full-length story.**

**.Zombie.**


	2. Why So Serious?

**A/N: I'm probably in no position to apologize but...I am so frickin' sorry for the long update! My laptop was out of commission for a while due to an incident and I couldn't write any frickin' thing on my desktop! Anyway, at least its here now and I should be back on track with this updating stuff.**

**Shout outs to my much loved reviewers: _Project Shadow, WAIT IM LOST, Leandra-998, Adorablehedgie [who should be signed on ;)], and Chi-Chiwawa [who should be signed on also :)]. _Love to all of you that read my story but didn't review. Still heart you guys anyway! :3**

**Moving on with this way too long A/N, I don't own a single thing but...what I own. :3 Language warning for the lighthearted and it might be a teeny bit graphic. Not too much though.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter One: Why So Serious?<span>**

"Sir, the energy signature found around Doctor Eggman's body is...unreal. I can tell that the person was Mobian at one point but...the DNA is so mutated its hard to tell." a gray wolf reported, making Tails pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

He had just gotten the call a few hours ago from G.U.N. Headquarters announcing that Eggman was found dead this morning nearby one of his bases. He arrived with a forensic and ESR [Energy Signature Research] Team around lunch time and now it was almost evening. It bothered him a little, to see his childhood foe lying on the cold forest floor, old blue eyes staring up at nothing.

"This is ridiculous. I want you to compare that energy to every other signature we have in the database. I want this guy identified. Now!" Tails snapped and the gray wolf jumped into action along with the rest of his team.

Tails watched as the ESR Team yanked their laptops out of their bags and began typing furiously. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the medical team placing Eggman's body in a black body bag. He quit staring when his phone vibrated in his pocket and pulled it out, answering immediately.

"Tails."

"Hey, man! Rouge wanted me to call to make sure you were still coming the club for the party later." he heard Silver reply enthusiastically. Silver worked as a bartender at Rouge's club, _Dusk 'til Dawn_. He occaisionally worked alongside Knuckles in bouncing the club and was currently dating his long-time friend, Blaze.

"Damn, I forgot all about that...Um, I'm not so sure, man. I'm up to my balls with this new murder case I'm working on. You won't believe who's gone..." Tails trailed off.

"Eggman? 'Bout time his old butt is gone!" Silver joked.

"Actually...yes. He was murdered last night, broken neck." he replied, making Silver go dead silent.

"Shit, dude...You could've stopped me! Now I feel bad!" the other man whined and the fox chuckled.

"Whatever. So, yeah, I'm dealing with this right now and I have absolutely no idea if I'll make it to the party or not. On another note, have you talked to Amy lately? She called me the other day saying she was moving back into Station Square. I said she could hang at my place until she gets a place somewhere." Tails questioned.

"Really? That's great, I haven't seen Amy in forever! Sorry though, I haven't heard from her since..." Silver answered, his voice taking on a sad tone as he trailed off.

"Ah well. So, I may see you tonight. Don't hold your breath though."

"Yeah, sure. Later, Tails."

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><p>The room was dimly lit and so quiet you could hear two people's hearts beating frantically in their chests. They'd failed their most recent missions and were positively sure that they would die now that their leader knew about their mistakes.<p>

"So...," a dark voice started casually and the two jumped in pure surprise. "Both of you failed your missions to find out more information on the one that killed Doctor Eggman. I should kill you where you stand...But I won't."

Relief and shock flooded both of their faces but both emotions faded when their leader spoke again. "I actually figured out the murderer's identity, no thanks to you idiots." He tossed a manila folder onto the desk in front of them, gesturing for them to open it.

The mint green wolf took the initiative to open the file and he dropped it immediately, almost as if it burned him. "Im-Impossible! It can't be him! He's been dead for ten years now!" he almost shouted, shocked beyond belief.

"Are you assuming I'm lying about this information, Kenyon?" their leader inquired softly. His low voice sent unpleasent shivers down Kenyon's and the other hedgehog's spines.

"N-No, sir. It's just that...that hedgehog's been reportedly dead for ten years now and it seems a bit _unbelievable_ that he was the one to kill the doctor," Kenyon explained, rubbing the back of his head out of nervous habit. "I don't doubt your beliefs, sir, but..."

The leader growled low in his chest and slammed his fist down on the table. "Believe it or fucking _not_, Kenyon, Shadow the Hedgehog was the reason for Eggman's murder along with many others."

The dark red hedgehog paled visibly, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Others? Wh-Why is he killing people again? I thought he was a good guy after-"

"He's searching for information, Sergio. When they don't give him a good answer, they die. Nigel Mitchel, Duncan Tate, Liam Forester...all three of those men were found dead, two with broken necks and one with a gun wound to the jugular. Their deaths were covered up by G.U.N., as usual, which made me suspicious.

I dug deeper and found out that Mitchel and Tate were working with Gerald Robotnik before the incident. They had _conveniently_ been visiting their families down on Earth when the _Ark_ was shut down." the leader explained and the two were silent, still absorbing the information.

"Why would Shadow kill Forester though, sir?" Sergio questioned, still in the dark about the last man's murder.

"Liam Forester...He wasn't related to the creation of Project Shadow in any way. Shadow had a personal..._grudge_ against the man because of what happened on Ark. He found out that Forester was the one that shot Maria Robotnik, the gun wound that killed her immediately."

The room was dead silent once more as the leader allowed his two men to process the new information. Shadow the Hedgehog was a deadly force to be reckoned with when he had a mission. Forester's body was proof enough of that.

"Anyway...back to the matter at hand. You both failed your previous missions, ones that I succeeded alone. For that...you must be punished." the leader stated coldly and watched with blank eyes as four burly-looking echidnas and hedgehogs marched in and dragged Sergio and Kenyon from the room.

Their screams went ignored as the leader shifted his gaze from the door to a more recent photograph of Shadow the Hedgehog.

The black hedgehog seemed to have aged twenty years but still managed to look no less than twenty-one. He was facing away from the camera, not sensing the photographer, with a black scowl on his face and his blood red eyes as calculating and cold as ever. He was wearing a black shirt, a leather jacket, dark cargo pants, and his regular skates were traded in for combat boots. There was a .45 Glock in his hand, his grip tight and his finger close to the trigger.

"There's something different about you, Shadow the Hedgehog..." the leader mused, rubbing his chin with one hand and leaning against the table. "I will find out your secret...and destroy you in the process. You shall pay for what you did, all those years ago. I swear it upon my name..."

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><p><strong>...And we meet again! Don't worry about Sergio and Kenyon, they are probably the only original characters in this fic and are actually important to the storyline. I bet their mystery leader's bugging the shit outta you guys too huh? Feel free to guess his identity and keep in mind that he is a real character and that Eggman is already dead.<strong>

**Also, lemme know if any of you are confused with the conversation between Tails and Silver. I won't spill secrets but I will tell you that you will find out eventually.**

**Feedback is loved and cherished. :3 **

**.Zombie.**


	3. Complicated

**a/n: I should probably explain for being practically AWOL, huh? See what had happened was...it's been a busy [not to mention expensive] week. Everyday I've been dragged all around the city on field trips so when I got home, I was dead on my feet. Anybody see _21 Jump Street? _I'm doing a little free advertising. Go see that movie. It. Was. Awesome.**

**Not much of a warning since there's like ONE curse word. Am I cleaning up my language?**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Complicated<strong>

The air was a comfortable cool when Amy stepped out of her dark red Audi R8. She gazed at the familiar surroundings and shut the car door behind her. Just as she was about to go pull her bags out of the back seat, her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Brushing her hair from her face, she answered. "Hello?"

"Amy! Hey, are you at the house?" Tails.

"Yeah. Hasn't changed a bit since we were kids. Where are you?"

"I'm driving home right now. There was an unexpected incident that I had to take care of and they kept me there longer than I expected." he explained and her brow furrowed at the tone of his voice.

"Tails, what happened?"

Silence.

"Eggman...He's dead, Amy." Tails answered after a moment of debate.

The pink hedgehog stayed quiet for a moment, digesting the information. She was more surprised than anything else. It wasn't everyday you found out that your childhood nemesis was dead. The news was oddly unsettling, and she didn't feel relieved or glad like she always thought she'd be.

"How did it happen?" she asked and there was a deep sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Apparently, his neck was snapped. When I got there...we couldn't identify the killer. Remember the other day when I was telling you about energy signatures? And how each person has their own unique signature?"

Amy nodded, though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well...this signature was a little _too_ unique. It's Mobian, that's for sure, but it's so damn mutated we can't get through to the original DNA code. It's extremely frustrating..." he said.

"Mutated? That's strange...Well, I think you should relax, Tails. You sound twenty years older, for christ sake!" she joked and he let out a dry laugh.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. You can obviously hear my gut busting from there." the fox deadpanned, making her giggle. "Oh, and I forgot to mention. Silver invited me to this party Rouge is throwing at her club. Do you want to go?"

"Of course! I haven't seen them in years. I'll probably be getting ready when you get here. Are you going?" Amy replied.

"Depends on what time I get home. I think about...thirty minutes? Don't wait up if you think I'm taking too long though." he said.

She nodded, and opened the trunk of the car. "Alright. Thanks again, Tails, for letting me crash here."

"No problem, Amy, you're like a sister to me."

"Key's still behind the doorbell?"

"Yeah. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

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><p>The forest was strangely dark even though it was dusk, although he didn't care whether it was light or dark. It didn't make a difference anymore with his enhanced vision being able to see clearly, despite the time. He trekked onward, scowling slightly when the bugs began to bother him. The farther he got, the more humid it became and eventually he yanked off his shirt to reveal the black wifebeater underneath.<p>

He made it to a small river and immediately sat down for a rest. As he was wiping the sweat off of his face, leaves crackled behind him under the pressure of someone's weight.

"I know you're there. You might as well reveal yourself." he growled lowly and turned to face the person.

"I should be saying that to you, Mobian," Eyes flashed abnormally in the darkness before they stepped forward. It was a female echidna with peach colored fur and hardened cobalt eyes. Her hair reminded her of another echidna from his past and she was dressed in the clothes of her long extinct tribe. "Though you appear to be a Mobian...you are nothing of the sort. State your business, black hedgehog."

A dark look passed over his face at the belittling tone the echidna held. "I came for information...and you're probably the only person that can give it to me at the moment."

The echidna was not surprised. She could sense that he was telling the truth but something about his eyes kept her on edge. Those dead and cold red orbs sent an unnerving chill that she had not encountered for many a year.

"What kind of information do you seek, hedgehog? Information about your past? Or possibly...," her voice lowered to a close whisper that he had trouble picking up, even with his enhanced hearing. "About your present?"

He glared at her and clenched his hands into fists. "If you already know what I'm here for, tell me so I can leave!"

"You will not order the Guardian of Chaos around, Shadow the Hedgehog. I hold a power that is unheard of, even in legends." she snapped, though her voice did not sound angry. It was empty, almost giving him a warning.

He couldn't help but fix the echidna with an sinister stare before sighing and replacing the blank mask he usually wore. "My apologies, guardian."

"You are forgiven. Now, about your situation...You wish to know how to fix it, yes?"

He nodded.

"Well, it shall be difficult for you only because you were _created_, not born. At the moment, you are the most unique Mobian on the planet with the DNA of Black Arms, Mobian, and this new...curse inside of you. Normally, I would tell you to search for the Emeralds of Chaos and bring them to me. I could create a cure for your _condition_ and we would be done." she started and he was vaguely reminded of an incident with those same gems not long ago.

"But, that's not the case. Since you're special, you must find the Gem of Purity and bring it to me." she finished and his face was scrunched in confusion.

"The Gem of..._what?_ Is that like a Chaos Emerald or something like that?" he questioned.

"Something like that. I would also suggest you find it soon. You do not have much time." the echidna replied and disappeared into the brush. He was about to call after her and demand for more information but she was already long gone.

Sighing, Shadow turned his head skyward just as the jungle began to get showered by its nightly midnight rain.

He was so _fucked_.

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><p><strong>an: To answer my own earlier question...Fuck no, I'm not cleaning up my goddamn motherfucking language! Was that last part with Shadow confusing to anybody? Lemme know, kay? I'll help...somewhat. **

**So Amy and Shadow were in this chapter together...but not _together_! That pissin' anybody off? Don't worry your pretty little readers heads, though. They'll meet soon.**

**The Spade has left your webpage. So review to make her come back, kay? :3**


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